The Motion Picture Herald (MPH) was an American film industry trade paper first published as the Exhibitors Herald in 1915, and MPH from 1931 to December 1972.[1][2][3] It was replaced by the QP Herald, which only lasted until May 1973.[4]
The paper's origin was in 1915, when a Chicago printing company launched a film publication as a regional trade paper for exhibitors in the Midwest and known as Exhibitors Herald.
Publisher Martin Quigley bought the paper and, over the following two decades, developed the Exhibitors Herald into a national trade paper for the US film industry.[5]
In 1917, Quigley acquired and merged another publication, Motography,[5] into his magazine. In 1927, he further acquired and merged the magazine The Moving Picture World and began publishing it as Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, which was later shortened to the more manageable title, Exhibitors Herald-World. Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World also incorporated The Film Index that was founded in 1906.[6][7]
After acquiring Motion Picture News in 1930, he merged the publications into the Motion Picture Herald.[8][9][10]
The Media History Digital Library has scans of the archive of Exhibitors Herald (1917 to 1927); Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (1928); Exhibitors Herald World (1929 to 1930) and Motion Picture Herald (1931–1956) available online.[11]